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Re: siren

Note that, where I come from, 'siren' is not interchangeable with 'mermaid' - that mythical sea-going creature with the bottom half of a fish (mentioned in another thread). The word 'siren' is used almost always in idioms that refer to classical mythology (for example, 'siren voices' are voices - perhaps metaphorical 'voices' - that tempt someone away from what they know is right). It's also used to refer metaphorically to a woman who's attractive (and probably therefore sexually tempting). For example, The Times this morning has a feature on 'screen sirens'.

Re: siren

PS I'm usually quite quick to recognize cognates (=related words in different languages) but the first time I heard the Spanish word sirena it took me quite a while to find out that it meant 'mermaid'.